Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-02-06
CRUELTY OF THE PERsIANS.
AL sorts of WickedneSs Concealed Under
Thin Veneer of Hospitality.

All sorts of WickedneSs Concealed Under
Thin Veneer of Hospitality.
Under a thin veneer OF good nature,
hospitality aud pOlitenesS the modern
Persian cOncealS every n of the seven
deadly sins. 1t is Il significant fact that
no words corresponding to II love, graft
tude, virtue, honor, patriotism, conscience
NJ penitcnce exists in his language. The
words serving as substitutes have alto
gether different meanings. "TaEewah'
means piety or rather observance of the
rituallstic laws; hummer" means not hon
or but smartncSS and cunning; "nemeki
haelal' and ''ncmeEi haeram' literally,
good salt and bad salt only refers to the
rules of hospitality; ''peShimani' is not
penitcnce but grief ut the non-suCceSS of
au enterprise, and ''ishk" is not love but
the only feeling the Persian knows under
that name.
Like most towards the Persian is fond
of inilicting pain where he may do 50 safe
". Cruelty seems Unborn with him. !
have seen children of both sexes StOning u
poor chr to death and literally hacking u
miserable cat to pieces just for the fun Of
the thing, and without any interference
from, often even with the active co. opera
tiOn of, the parent. The death penalty is
usually executed with a view of making
the culprit undergo the most horrible tor
lures and of atiording a welcome sight to
the Callous populace.
On the Koop Kapu in Teheran, the
square in the heart of the city where the
executions usually take place, a half score
of d]elinquents are often placed on the
raised platform surmOunted by a pole
painted n brilliant scarlet hue, and in full
sight of the rabble they have their tbroatS
cut, their hearts torn out, their ears and
noses lit, their tongues pulled out, their
eyes scared, or boiling pitch poured over
their naked bodies to everybOdy's great
delight except that OF the parties directly
concerned. Along the highways one
meets, stuck in the ground, short, hollow
pillars with the upper opening closed with
gympsum. Each OF these contains n man,
a condemned criminal walled up alive.
Faint groans may often be heard by pas
sersby, for this mode of death is slow and
very painful, but nobody thinks it worth
his while to liberate the poor wretch or to
terminate his SufferingS by a merciful
blow. "KiSmetH' they say, ''such is
fater' Very much depends at executions
upon the hangman. Abribe 70 him or the
guarantee that a qualification will be paid
him by the friends of the condemned man
after his derth always insure a more or less
speedy death and decrease of the fortunes
otherwise inflicted.
But woe to the poor delinquent who
either has no more means left 70 buy the
good offices of the eNecutiOner or else
chooses to make Ovcc his last few tOmans
to his lamily-he will surely rue it in his
last hour and made to suffer twice rs
acutely rs would otherwise be the case.
There were, for instance, four criminals
hanged mp by their feet INT nailed To the
boards outside the gates of Teheran less
than q year ago who could be seen there
slowly dying for thirty-siX hours. A well
spent bribe TO the executioner would have
shortened their troubles, and it remained
finally for one of the diplomatic corps to
bestow q few krauS to have these unlucky
malefactors put ont of their misery. The
average Persian will look entirely I'M
moved on n spectacle of human suffering.
There is no chord in his nature to respond
to an appeal for mercy. Money alone will
induce him TO take compassion or another
mans pain.-WOif ron SchierbrdRd.